Hair fastener



Jan. 24, 1950 w, H T 2,495,455

HAIR FASTENER Filed NOV. 8, 1947 Patented Jan. 24 1950 William Huppert, New York, N. Y., assignor to Kenore Products Corp., New York, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application November 8, 1947, Serial No. 784,852

The invention relates to a hair fastener of the barrette type having a tongue, and more particularly to an improved catch for fastening the tongue in its closed position.

Various forms of catches have heretofore been proposed, all of which have been found to be generally unsatisfactory because of the difiiculty experienced in fastening or unfastening the tongue, expense of manufacture, lack of durability, and, among other reasons, accidental unfastening of the tongue due to pressure of the hair against the tongue. It isone of the objects of the present invention to provide a barrette of simple, effective, inexpensive and durable construction which is provided with a catch that is so designed that the resilient tongue may be easily placed into closed position and is locked tighter the more pressure is exerted on the tongue by the hair and cannot be unfastened due to pressure of the hair, but which permits of easily opening or unfastening the tongue when it is desired to remove the barrette from the hair.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a barrette which is equipped with a hook member designed for locking the tongue and for permitting of opening or unfastening of the tongue at either side of the hook member.

With these and other objects in View which will become apparent in the following detailed specification, the present invention will be clearly understood in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a side view of the hair fastener;

Fig. 2 is a bottom plan view thereof;

Fig. 3 is a detail cross-sectional view on the line 33 of Fig. 2, on an enlarged scale; and

Fig. 4 is a cross-sectional view on the line 4-4 of Fig. 2, on an enlarged scale.

The hair fastener comprises a body I preferably of molded plastic substance or of any other suitable material. The body I is curved or bowed in the direction of its length and its upper surface may be either smooth or ornamented in any desired manner.

A hinge block 2 is formed at one end of the body I preferably integral therewith and a hole 3 extends transversely through the hinge block 2. The tongue 4 is formed of a single piece of wire doubled over to provide two substantially parallel arms 5. The tongue 4 is curved or bowed inwardly through the major portion of its length, and the radius of which curvature is smaller than the radius of the body curvature, in order to assure resiliency oi the tongue 4 when in closed or 3 Claims. (01. 132-48) locked position and thereby prevent it from becoming accidentally unfastened. The ends 6 .of

the arms 5 are inturned and fit into the hole 3 extending transversely through the hinge block 2. The arms 5 are preferably constricted at 1, adjacent the block 2, and are tied together by a strap 8 which is bent or crimped around the arms. This provides a simple and economical construction for hinging the tongue to the body.

The free end 9 of the tongue 4 is preferably narrowed or constricted at [0, although such narrowing is not essential, and is formed with an outwardly curved or bent portion l l for the purpose hereinafter described.

A catch i2 for the tongue 4 is formed at one end, preferably integral with the body and of the same material. The catch i2 is best shown in Figs. 3 and 4, where it is shown in the reverse position from which it is normally used. The catch 12 is substantially hook-shaped and comprises a portion l3 extending substantially parallel to the body I; and projecting toward the other end thereof and is adapted to engage the free end 9 of the tongue 4. As stated above, the free end 9 of the tongue is formed with an outward curve I I and by this arrangement the end of the hook member enters into the space between the two arms 5 (Fig. 3), thereby preventing any accidental side movement of the tongue 4', which would cause its accidental unfastening. In addition, the curve II also provides a better grip of the tongue 4 when it is to be locked or unlocked. In order to facilitate entry of the hook member into the space between the arms 5 of the tongue 4, the hook is narrowed or tapered towards its end (Figs. 3 and 4). The resiliency of the tongue 4 causes its transversely extending end portion I4 to engage under the irmer face l5. of the hook member. The length of the tongue is shorter than the distance from the hinge block to the inner wall of the hook member post, the latter extending perpendicularly to the body I. This arrangement has the advantage that the tongue does not extend beyond the body, as it is usual in constructions of the prior art.

In order to unfasten or open the tongue it is merely necessary to depress the curved portion ll out of engagement with the catch portion i3 and to shift the tongue slightly sidewise in either direction. Thereupon the tongue can be swung into open position shown by the dotted lines in Fig. 1. In fastening or closing. the tongue the reverse procedure is followed, that is the tongue is depressed and moved sideways into position so quantity of hair caught between the tongue and the body of the barrette. Thus an accidental opening due to excessive pressure of the hairis prevented.

While I have shown one embodiment'of the 2 present invention, it is to be understood that this embodiment is shown by example only andrnot a limiting sense, the scope of the invention being determined by the claims.

I claim: 1 1. In a hair fastener, a body, a tongue hinged Eat one end to the body, said tongue having spacedapart resilient arms connected together at their .free ends by a transverse cross-piece, and a catch at the opposite end of the body to that at which the tongue is hinged, said catch having aportion that extends substantially parallel to the body and points towards the hinged end of the tongue which portion, in closed position of the tongue,

enters into the space between the tongue-arms and engages over the end cross-piece of the tongue to lock the tongue against accidental lateral or vertical displacement.

2. A hair fastener comprising, a body, a tongue 4 hinged to the body, said tongue having spacedapart resilient arms connected together at the free end by a transverse cross-piece, and a catch having a, hook-like portion secured to the body in position to engage the free end of the tongue when the tongue is in closed position, said hooklike portion entering into the space between the arms at the free end of the tongue and engaging over the cross-piece of said end of the tongue to lock the tongue against accidental lateral displacement in either direction and against vertical displacement away from the body.

3. A hair fastener as set forth in claim 2, in

which both the body and tongue are bowed lengthwise, the radius of curvature of the tongue being less than that of the body, whereby in locked position of the tongue the cross-piece of the freeend of the tongue will exert a spring pressure on the hook-like portion of the catch.

I WILLIAM HUPPERT.

, REFERENCES CITED The following're'ferences are of record in the fi e of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name 7 Date 897,188 Bechtold Aug. 25, 1908 1,129,361 'Berry Feb. 23, 1915 '1;785,885- Armstrong Dec. 23, 1930 1,830,140 Sterling Nov. 3, 1931 v Polak July 4, 1939 

